Who's in Charge Here, Anyway?

Well, if you happen to be inquiring about the NY State Board of Regents, as of April 1st, that would be Meryl Tisch, from one of "the city's most philanthropic families." That's important, of course, because in Mayor Bloomberg's New York, only rich people have the insight to dictate to poor people what sort of education they need.

For just one example, last year NYC's public school parents selected smaller class sizes as their number one concern. Fortunately, chief "accountability" officer Jim Liebman was able to conflate their number two and three concerns, and let parents know that class size wasn't their number one concern after all. That's what "accountability" officers do when they aren't literally running from public school parents.

Back to Ms. Tisch, one might ask where all those "philanthropic" funds came from. Well, a good deal of them came via the sale of Newport cigarettes, which they gave up last June. Apparently, the Tisch family was uncomfortable with selling such an odious product, which explains why they flirted with the idea for a mere forty years before renouncing it. As for Ms. Tisch personally, her philosophies seem ultimately very much in sync with billionaire Mayor Mike, according to Elizabeth Green of Gotham Schools:

Though Tisch has been a strong supporter of Mayor Bloomberg, she has also occasionally criticized him and his schools chancellor, Joel Klein. She told the Times last year that she disagreed with Klein’s request for looser regulations on state funds. “Nobody appointed him czar,” she said. She also testified to a committee that mayoral control of the schools, which Bloomberg strongly supports, should be curtailed. I reported her testimony, which was originally secret, at the New York Sun

Yet Tisch’s plans for the state’s public schools, which she laid out in a long statement accepting the new position, sound many similar notes to the Bloomberg administration’s work in New York City. It also echoes the Obama administration’s plans for education.

It's unfortunate that Ms. Tisch is so profoundly unaware of what's going on with public school kids that she'd dally with such preposterous and counterproductive "reforms." In her favor, it appears that unlike Chancellor Klein, Bill Gates, Jay Matthews, Randi Weingarten, and the other "experts," Ms. Tisch has actually spent several years working as a teacher. So perhaps there's a glimmer of hope somewhere.

If I could ask Ms. Tisch one thing, I'd ask her to stop requiring kids who arrived in the USA five minutes ago to take the English Regents. That way, folks like me could get back to the business of teaching them English, which personally, I've found very useful.

What would you ask Ms. Tisch?

Thanks to Greg D.

Liars, Damned Liars, Statisticians, and Tweed

Yesterday's NY Post reports that the student surveys, those hallowed documents with which they judge all the great improvements of Mayor Mike and Chancellor Joel, were steered out of the hands of students who might have made negative comments:

Among the "suggestions" in the document, posted online by a Department of Education achievement director, was to "keep the surveys away from toxic person(s)," taken to mean troubled students.

Oddly, this follows accusations the teacher surveys were fixed. In my school we were urged to fill out the surveys at a department meeting. Several brand new teachers were dispatched to explain how we should fill out the surveys, and how we would earn more points for the school.

It's funny how these things happen. Anyway, as long as the surveys say the right thing, Chancellor Klein and Mayor Bloomberg are doing a great job. Watch below, as chief "accountability" officer Liebman, the one who literally runs from involved parents, takes a survey and turns it on his head.

Parents chose smaller class size as their number one priority, but Mr. Liebman conflates a whole bunch of other things and moves class size to second. Mayor-for-life Bloomberg and all his underlings are masters at twisting statistics to support their PR.

What's really sad is this--beyond PR they've utterly failed to make schools better. Maybe when a wall collapses and kids come spilling out the front of my school they'll build us an extension. Until them, it's squeeze 'em in, and the largest class sizes in the state. Why reduce class sizes when you can put signs in the subway saying you've already done it?

This Child Was Left Behind

In Mr. Bloomberg's New York, the motto is "Children First." So naturally, when cuts are to be made, they're the first ones to feel them. Now if you're going to make cuts to services for children, the easiest way to do it is with those whose parents are least likely to complain.

That's why, for example, students of English as a Second Language are often taught in closets, hallways and even bathrooms (I know a woman who taught in a bathroom for years, and who was pictured doing so in the New York Times).

But in fairness, ESL students are not the only ones on the receiving end of New York City's educational "reforms." Special education students are having buses cut, and very few of them have SUV's waiting outside their doors to drive them to convenient subway stops (like Mayor Bloomberg does--you didn't think he really took the train all the way to work, did you?).

After all, with the city training principals at near 6-figure salaries, spending tens of millions on computers that don't work, and hiring accountability officers like Jim Liebman who literally run away from concerned parents, you don't think they're about to toss away money sending special education kids to school, do you?

Of course not, And now that there are fewer buses, there'll be even less chance of anyone catching up with Mr. Liebman.

UFT Defends Liebman

Edwize, to its everlasting disgrace, has become an apologist for James Liebman, running two articles in one short week which defend him. Amazingly, this comes right on the heels of Samuel Freedman's devastating column.

First, "Maisie" wrote a piece about how Mr. Liebman was "smart and decent," and incredibly, defended him by explaining he was just following orders. I can recall cases where that defense proved ineffective. Most recently, they got a student to write for them, putting forth the preposterous suggestion that our supposed unwillingness to compromise was somehow setting back the issue of class size.

Actually, Mr. Liebman has blatantly tried to spin class size, the number one concern of parents (on his own survey) into a secondary issue. He has declared that reductions that do not reach 15 or less are ineffective. Anyone who has not seen him spar with Patrick Sullivan at PEP ought to. In fact, the consistent failure of this administration to act on class size more or less speaks for itself.

The student refers to the administration's "search for results." Perhaps that refers to the outright lies about class size on television. While the class size issue has certainly not been addressed, this administration takes a do-or-die view of test scores. And though NAEP results suggests they've been utterly ineffective, I've yet to notice Mr. Liebman or his bosses taking responsibility.

With all due respect to the student who wrote this, he’s sorely mistaken about the UFT’s willingness to compromise.We compromised when we supported mayoral control, and the results have been abysmal, despite expensive TV campaigns that declare otherwise.

We compromised when we allowed teachers to be placed in the absent teacher reserve rather than be assigned to new schools.We compromised when we agreed to support reorganization number three, the one that forces principals to consider salaries of incoming teachers, and almost certainly leaves even more senior teacher to languish in the absent teacher reserve. In fact, in 2005 we compromised so much that we earned the admiration of anti-union, anti-teacher zealots like Rod Paige

I'm afraid that any implication we are unwilling to compromise is sorely misplaced. If there's one thing the UFT knows, it's compromise. I realize students may be unfamiliar with our history, but I'd hope the publishers of Edwize would know something of it.

I suppose, though, I’d hope in vain.

Or maybe their priorities mirror those of Mr. Liebman.

It's hard to decide.

Mr. Bloomberg Gives an A

Spurred on by several astute commenters, I checked out the "On Education" column in today's Times. Inquiring minds want to know how a school NY State labeled as "persistently dangerous" could get an A from the great minds at Tweed. Jim Liebman, last seen running away from a group of concerned parents, had a ready explanation:

The A grade, though, may also have something to do with the fact that the progress reports weigh all safety factors as only 2.5 percent of a school’s total grade, said James S. Liebman, the Education Department’s chief accountability officer. He has said the department decided not to give safety more consideration because statistics on school violence rely on self-reporting and tend to be deceptive.

Interesting that the safety of NYC's 1.1 million public school children is only worth 2.5% to this administration. In fact, according to Mr. Liebman, being on the list of 52 persistently dangerous schools is actually a good thing:

Only a school that keeps track of its disciplinary incidents will compile enough examples to make the state list, he said. Ms. Ault, the principal, offered the same explanation. Some teachers, however, say they were dissuaded from reporting incidents.

Well, it's an imaginative theory, in any case, and it certainly sheds light on precisely what Mr. Bloomberg looks for in an "accountability officer."

This is one of the "academies" that's recently popped up as Mr. Bloomberg's panacea. Now the one in the commercial I keep seeing says it's passing almost all of the kids that go there, while the school it replaced passed almost none. And it has nothing to do, I have to suppose, with the fact that all the failing kids were replaced. At least that's the impression it gave me. But the school Freedman describes sounds like something from a Fellini film:

During the 2006-7 term, 13 of the 16 teachers were in their first year. The principal, Ms. Ault, had never led a school before founding Applied Media in 2005. She previously coordinated special education at a charter school in Harlem that was shut by the state for academic deficiency.

Still, Applied Media showed student progress on its standardized tests.

One reason for the improving scores, Ms. Ault said, was that during the period of test preparation in the late winter and early spring, she removed the “most disruptive” students from their regular classes. Dmitry Terekhov, a teacher, said: “The A we received is a testament to the teachers. We got the job done.”

That they did. But it appears when test prep is not in session, the approach to disruptive students is one of utter indifference.

“The administration would be telling you that it would all fall into place if you had a better lesson plan or more student engagement or arranged the desks in a U shape,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter how good your lesson plan is if the kids can’t even stay still long enough to write the ‘Aim’ and ‘Do Now’ off the board. There are no repercussions. There is no punishment fitting the infraction.”

While I've learned not to expect much, or indeed anything, from administration, the fact is it's their job to support teachers, particularly new teachers. As new teachers constituted almost the entire staff, that's a big job. I guess big jobs are easier when you don't do them, just like the rent is not so high when you don't pay it.

And that's today's lesson, apparently, in Mr. Bloomberg's New York.

See Jim Run

Run, Jim, Run.

Jim runs fast.

See Mommy chase Jim.

See Daddy chase Jim.

See all the 6,652 mommies and daddies chase Jim.



Run, Jim, run.

Thanks to David Bellel

Related: Over at Edwize, Maisie apologizes for Jim Liebman, calling him "smart and decent," and maintains the public school parents were "grandstanding." Does the UFT leadership agree the accountability officer is accountable to no one for anything? Is it really their job to defend those who blatantly try to bury the issue of class size?

Running On Empty

The NY Daily News reports that a high-ranking DOE official, after repeatedly stating that the Department of Education is responsive to parents at a Monday City Council hearing, fled through a side door "with parents in hot pursuit."

The official - Jim Liebman, the DOE's chief accountability officer - ran down three flights of stairs and circled around and around a courtyard with parents and reporters following him.

The parents - part of a group called Time Out From Testing - said it had collected 6,652 signatures from parents upset about school report card grades and wanted to give the signed petition to him.

The Daily News reports that Liebman at first refused to comment on the issue "as he tried to slip through the gate that separates City Hall from the Tweed Courthouse."

Later Liebman said he thought another DOE staffer was going to collect the petition and that in any case the scene in the courtyard "was not a moment for a reasonable, calm exchange of information."

Lisa Donlen, an elected parent leader who was at the City Council meeting on the school report card program, said Liebman's flight from parents was "indicative" of the way the DOE treats parents:

"He wouldn't even stay to hear our questions ... after we sat for three hours and listened to his testimony," she said.

The News reports that during the hearing most Council members said parents in their districts were opposed to the school report card program but felt their views were ignored by the mayor, the chancellor and the Department of Education.

And then the DOE's chief accountability officer, who is apparently accountable to nobody for anything, crystallized the DOE's treatment of parents with his cowardly flight away from them.

I have two things to say here:

First, it's good to see the City Council and parent groups hammering the mayor's ridiculous school report card program that hands out "F's" to schools like PS 35 in Staten Island (where 86% of students passed the reading test and 98% passed the math test.) And it's good to see some in the news media reporting on the contemptuous way people in the mayor's administration and at the DOE treat anybody who doesn't wave the pom-poms for the mayor's reforms.

Second, none of this matters if City Council members and other politicians rubber stamp autocratic mayoral control when it comes up for renewal in '09.

If parents and politicians want the DOE and the mayor to be responsive to somebody other than themselves, they will have to write that into legislation by taking away some of the mayor's autocratic control of the school system.